Pilot Conditions vs. Production Reality
Why the same technology produces different results at scale
The Pilot
Data
Curated, cleaned, complete
Users
Motivated volunteers who chose to participate
Scope
Defined, contained, manageable
Accountability
Clear champion with skin in the outcome
Measurement
Tool performance: time saved, errors reduced
Success rate
~70%
Production at Scale
Data
Inconsistent, incomplete, siloed across systems
Users
Everyone — including people who didn't choose this
Scope
Cross-functional, with upstream and downstream effects
Accountability
Diffuse — unclear who owns AI outputs when things go wrong
Measurement
Business outcomes: capacity released, revenue, risk
Scale rate
~8%
Context is Everything